Yonderly

My biggest regret is that I didn't read this sooner. There'd been a lot of hype, and I tend to gravitate away from hype, but I picked this up on a whim when I saw it at the library. Wow, wow, wow. I'm so glad I did. This was my first Rick Yancy read, but it certainly won't be the last.

The book opens with this marvelous and fitting quote by Stephen Hawking:

"If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn't turn out very well for the Native Americans."

How right you are, Mr. Hawking. The world is in shambles as the aliens' 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th waves of extermination cut down the human population to a fragment of its original size. You can imagine the paranoia the survivors harbored as they waited for the 5th wave of attack…which could come from anywhere, in any form. But let's start with the beginning, which is shown through Cassie's flashbacks. I found Yancy's estimation of how people would first react to the alien appearance very realistic. When the 1st wave hits, Cassie is at school, and both the students and teachers' reactions seemed eerily spot on. Cassie's shift in priorities (cute boys to staying alive) and her reflection on this shift offered even more to the realism. I found this beginning to the "end of the world" intriguing because it got me thinking our own society and how we would react the invasion. My verdict? Not much better than our fictional counterpart did. There's only so much you can do, when there's so little you know.

While this book was a fast-paced sci-fi page-turner, it also revealed quite a lot about human nature. And human instincts. I liked that amid the gun fire, there was aways the presence of the human aspect--coping mechanisms, paranoia, straight-up fear. Not everyone had the same reactions, and not everyone survived. But everyone was human, and thus, everyone had motivations. These characters weren't made of cardboard, nor were they passive chess pieces, waiting for deus ex machina to sweep in and save the day. They took action, even if it wasn't always the right decision, and they had to deal with the consequences. Not to mention, the relationship dynamics between the characters were great. As was the romance;)

Maybe I've been out of the book loop for too long, but I thought The 5th Wave was a standalone. I got to the end, looked around, and went, "Whaaaat?" There were so many unanswered questions, and I still had so many theories I wanted to see pan out. Thankfully, after checking Goodreads, I realized this is actually set to be a trilogy. Which isn't that surprising, considering the current trilogy craze. And the second installment (The Infinite Sea) is out this September! Unfortunately for me, I'll be in the midst of college applications, so I'm going to have to put it on hold. Definitely going on my Christmas list and my holiday to-read list! If you still haven't picked this book up, I suggest you do!